Nissan has said today that its new Almera model will be built at Washington - but only if Britain signs up to the Euro.

The chief executive of the giant Japanese company Carlos Ghosn has stated that it will take the production of the car elsewhere if the country decides against a single European currency.

He has warned there will be no more investment in the Washington operation while Britain retains the pound.

This comment could dash the plant's hopes of retaining the contract to build the vehicle, which is due for replacement next year.

If the Almera is lost it would result in hundreds of job losses at the factory, which currently employs 4,600 people.

But Mr Ghosn has pledged Nissan will pour more money into the plant to start building its new Almera if the UK has signalled it will join the Euro.

He said: "If the signs are clear and reassuring, we will reinvest in Sunderland. If there are too many risks we will go elsewhere.

"We want our main cost base in Europe to be in the same currency as our receipts."

Nissan recently decided to produce the Micra in Sunderland rather than in France where both its costs and its revenues would be in Euros.

In a close decision, Sunderland was chosen because it was, and still is, Europe's most efficient car manufacturing plant.

A spokesman for Nissan at Washington said: "We believe that our plant is the natural choice to build the replacement Almera. A number of factors, including the important currency situation, will be considered by the company when it makes its decision.

"But the currency situation is not the only issue, and we don't expect the decision to hinge on this solely."

Since the new supermini was launched Nissan has been delighted with sales figures, well ahead of expectation.

Earlier this month the new managing director at the Washington plant, Colin Dodge, said if sales continue to be so high after the summer then extra workers could be taken on.

Around 400 new positions would be created if an extra shift is introduced to cope with the order backlog, currently running at 22,000 vehicles.

The success of the Micra launch has helped Nissan to achieve record profits of &#xA3;3.9 billion in the past financial year.